Let the music guide you
by reachingformyshootingstar
Summary: Emma Swan and Killian Jones are superstars of the music industry, they've known each other for a long time but when Emma gets a job that Killian wanted they grow apart. They meet again at Emma's launch party for her new album and they both have unfinished business with one another. What happens that night leads to something that neither of them would have expected. Captain Swan AU.
1. Chapter 1

The sweat started to sting her eyes as she headed towards her dressing room. She was exhausted. In total throughout the entire week she had managed to squeeze in around 20 hours sleep in total. Her schedule had been insane with her album release date growing closer by the day. Interviews, press conferences, promotional concerts, it had all taken it out of her. She slumped onto her sofa, kicked off her heels and just sat there appreciating this one moment of peace.

"Emma?" The door swung open as Ruby, her assistant, came strolling into the room. Seriously? Couldn't she have one minute of peace?

"What?"

"We need to go. Like now. You're going to be late for the party."

Her brain barely processed what she said. Party? What party could she possibly have to…?

"Oh crap!" Emma shot up from her seat and quickly changed into the first and most sparkly dress she saw. It was her launch party. Everyone was going to be there and she would never live it down if she was late to her own party. She shoved her feet back in to her shoes and grabbed her purse.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" She ran past Ruby headed straight for the back exit, avoiding as many cameras as possible.

By the time her SUV pulled up outside the bar she was 'fashionably late' or to ordinary people just over 30 minutes late. The engine was barely off before the press were surrounding the car, her driver and security guard came around the car to her side before opening the door just enough for her to slip out gracefully. She was bombarded with questions on both her professional and private life, she was used to it that was until_ he_ came up. And he always did.

"Was your split from Neal mutual?"

Her heart beat faster at the mention of his name. It had been over 3 months and she still wasn't used to him being gone. She swooped past the press and up the steps into the bar. She walked onto the small circular stage in the centre of the entrance hall for the more civilised photographers. Once they were all satisfied she headed for the massive double doors behind which 200 people ranging from label representatives to other artists to her closest friends. The doormen gave her the grand double door entrance and she glided in to a massive round of applause and people cheering and shouting her name. Ruby caught up to her.

"Go get a drink, I officially give you the night off. Tonight you are a friend not my assistant." Ruby's face lit up at her words. She knew Ruby would want to drink and flirt and socialise and she wouldn't be able to if she was trying to control the press all night.

"Thank-you! Thank-you! Thank-you!" She hugged her and turned off her phone and tablet. She didn't even see which crowd Ruby blended into.

The music was blaring loud and it was almost 11pm meaning her first live performance of her new album. She had been greeting people all night and she was exhausted. Thankfully, she had grown so used to heels now that her feet didn't kill anymore, in fact she could barely feel them. She started heading up to the stage.

"Hey everybody! Are you all having a good time?" She was met with cheers and raised glasses.

"I want to thank you all so much for being here tonight, it really means so much to me. And so, to show my appreciation I thought I would sing you a song from the new album, how about that?" Again, the crowd raised their glasses and cheered as her lead guitarist kicked off the song.

The crowd erupted as she stepped down from the stage. They disbanded back into their groups for idle chat and she milled around trying to kick up a decent conversation. Her brain told her to keep talking but the conversations grew even duller and she knew if she was going to get through the night she would need a drink.

Her elbows rested on the bar as she ordered her drink and ran her hands through her hair.

"Emma Swan." Her head jolted up. She knew that voice. It was a statement rather than a question. She would know that accent anywhere. She slowly turned her head.

"Killian Jones." She met him with the same level of confidence as he had her. Her eyes swam over his lean, muscled body accented perfectly in a grey shirt rolled up to his elbows with a dark grey waistcoat and skinny grey trousers. She couldn't deny he was attractive. If only he wasn't a total prick.

"How are you, love?" She hated his confidence and that bloody smirk he gave her every time something came out of his mouth. She saw his eyes glaze over her body, she knew her dress showed off her legs and cleavage perfectly and with her 7" glitter heels, she knew she looked good, evidently so did he.

"Why do you care and why are you here?"

"You wound me, darling. I am merely here to support a fellow artist. And, I am genuinely interested in how you are although judging by the double scotch you just ordered I don't think it's necessary."

"Well, if I am going to be spending another second with you…" She downed her drink in one and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She looked straight into his eyes which now seemed to have darkened, although it was probably just the lights.

"Now, now is my company really that bad?" She gave him a look that quite clearly gave him an answer. "Congratulations by the way that was quite a performance up there."

"Thank-you." She said it bluntly, maybe more than she had originally intended.

"You certainly do have a pair of lungs on you, Swan." She glared at him, he knew she hated it when he called her that. Three years ago they had been at the same label, both just starting out. They were both due to open for the label's most well-known star, Regina Mills, this was their big break. However, Regina decided to bring in an opening act of her own who also happened to be her boyfriend. The label had to cut one of them and they chose Killian. Ever since then, he had called her Swan, she assumed he hated her enough that he couldn't even call her by her first name. She didn't understand why he hated her that much when he had scored an even bigger show not a month later. She was snapped from her thoughts by Killian, a lot closer now, talking to the bartender.

"Two Scotch on the Rocks please, good sir." Urgh. He was such a dork when he wanted to be.

"Seriously?"

"What? Can't a guy buy a colleague a drink these days?"

"Okay, first of all it's an open bar and I'm paying the bill so technically I'm buying you a drink and second, colleagues? We _were_ colleagues until Regina's concert then you ran off pouting because you lost out on the slot. So no, you can't." She walked off and didn't turn back. She wasn't going to let Killian Jones ruin her night. And as it turned out he didn't need to.

The conversations had grown even duller than before, if that was possible. She took a quick glance around the room searching for anyone of interest. The party was in full swing and most people were either by the bar or on the dance floor. She turned to the back of the hall searching out Ruby or anyone who she could hold a decent conversation with. Suddenly, the room came alive with chatter and whispers and she could hear the photographers shooting away. Obviously someone pretty important had just arrived. She put on a beaming smile, hopefully for what would be the last time tonight and turned to face the entrance.

Her heart skipped a beat. She felt weak at the knees. She felt a supportive arm around her and saw a flash of red in the corner of her eye, Ruby, but her focus never left the walkway.

_Neal. _


	2. Chapter 2

He stepped down and started walking towards her. The music had died down and there was silence in the hall except for his footsteps. Voices in her head were screaming for her to run but she couldn't make her legs work. She knew she would have to face him again soon. She just hoped it wouldn't be until she was settled again. He stopped dead not two inches away from her.

"Hey Em."

"Wh-what what are you… why are you…"

"I wanted to see you. Is there somewhere we can talk privately?"

"Yeah." Ruby gave her a look of pure shock before Emma turned and walked towards the private lounge just off the bar.

Neal barely made it into the room before she stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face him, her eyes were already brimming with tears threatening to spill over but she wouldn't let them. She wouldn't let him see her weakness.

"So Em, how have you been?"

"Cut the crap, Neal. Just tell me why you're here." He hesitated before responding.

"I miss you. I want you back." He stepped towards her reaching out, taking her by the waist. She struggled to escape but he tightened his grip.

"You left me. Remember? You were the one who packed up one night, left your key and didn't even say goodbye or give me a reason. You really think I would want you back after you humiliated me like that and left me to deal with the press while you went off the grid." She shoved his hands off her body and turned away from his pleading eyes.

"You didn't have to deal with it, you could have gone off the grid too…" her frustration boiled over, she couldn't take this anymore

"Seriously?! You don't know anything, do you? How could I go off the grid when I have an album coming out in less than a week, Neal? I'm not like you, I can't just disappear leaving everyone I care about to worry that I was lying dead in a ditch somewhere!" The tears had spilled over now, but she didn't care. She wanted him to know how he hurt her.

"Em, I'm sorry, I was an idiot. Look, Tamara's gone, she couldn't handle the attention every time we went out."

"Oh, so you didn't miss me, you just couldn't handle being alone."

"Hey, that's not… I didn't… I still don't…"

"Exactly." She brushed past Neal before he grabbed her arm and pulled her into him. Before she knew it, he was pressing an unyielding kiss to her lips. She tried to push him away but he wouldn't budge. She gave up struggling and then the inevitable happened. Buried feelings came rushing back to the surface and she started to kiss him back. His hands moved from her back to her jaw and her hair, brushing a lock of golden hair behind her ear. When she finally came to her senses, she pushed him back, maybe a little harder than intended. He caught himself just before he ran into the glass cabinet behind him.

"Leave. Now!"

"Em, come on. You know we're good together."

"Neal, go!" Just as she shouted, the door flew open.

Shit.

He stood there, shaking with rage. Her manager. David Nolan, who also happened to be her best friend since childhood. She knew this was not going to end well for Neal.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"None of your business, but if you must know I came to speak to Emma." David took one look at her and saw the pain in her eyes. It was enough. He was at Neal within two massive strides. Emma didn't even realise what was happening until it was too late. Neal lay on the ground, breathing but not moving. David was standing above him and she couldn't help but let out a small weep before she was drawn out of her thoughts by a camera flash. She turned to see both doors open and a crowd of press in the doorway behind them, nothing. She ran out of the room through the press hoard. The hall was totally empty except for Ruby and a few people still enjoying their drinks at the bar.

_Damn it._

Neal had outdone himself this time. Ruby sprinted towards her with her phone against her ear. All she caught of the conversation was "How the hell did this happen? How can you call yourself security when you let her bloody ex in without an invitation? You will be sorry when I'm done with you mate. Now go and fire whoever the hell was working this party and call me when it's done." So much for her night off.

"Where is everyone?" It came out more of a whisper than she had intended. Ruby looked up from her phone and looked Emma straight in the eye.

"It seems people scare easy, David came in here like a bat out of hell asking where you were, I told him and he flipped. People started heading out as soon as the press broke in. I swear Em, I made 100 phone calls to the security company very clearly stating that under no circumstances was he to be let within 100ft of the building."

"It's okay Ruby, it's not your fault." Ruby gave her a sad smile and then looked over Emma's shoulder.

"Hey! Hey! You lot get the hell out of there!" She brushed past Emma and two extremely large men followed her. Between the three of them and David they managed to get them all back outside and away from Emma.

She stood alone in the middle of the room. The night had been a total disaster and it was all thanks to Neal.

"Well, that was better than any party I've been to in a long time. The entertainment was especially fantastic." God, of all the people who could have stayed, why? Why did it have to be him?

"Are you serious right now? Can you not be such an arrogant ass for one night?" She spun to face him and was paralysed by the look on his face. For the first time in ages, he wasn't wearing that stupid smirk on his face but he actually looked… sorry? Killian Jones, the smug, arrogant jackass was sorry?

"My apologies, Swan. I merely intended to cheer you up. He shouldn't have been here. I know how much he hurt you." By this time they were the only people left in the room.

"Yeah well, I deserved it." He grabbed her elbow then spinning her around to face him.

"Don't you dare ever think that. That man is a damn fool for leaving you, Emma." She was taken aback by the use of her first name. He never called her Emma, it was always Swan. "He's a fool for not seeing how beautiful and kind and amazing you are." His voice had changed by this point, it was a lot more breathy and quitter and it looked like he was in pain as he spoke. Her heart was racing inside her chest and she had lost all feeling in her arm where he was still holding her. "You're one in a million, Emma. If he didn't see what he had when you were with him, then he didn't deserve you. You deserve someone who appreciates what he has when he's with you." Tears were spilling over again and his hand had moved from her arm to her face, brushing away the tears with his thumb. She looked up into his crystal blue eyes, they had clouded over with something she couldn't recognise. They stared at eachother for what felt like days but what could only have been seconds. He took a small cautionary step towards her. She didn't flinch. With that, he moved until he was well within her personal space. They stood motionless, just being with eachother. Then, he took a leap of faith and gently brushed his lips against hers. He expected her to slap him once he pulled away, but she didn't. Instead she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into another kiss. This one was stronger, more desperate than the last. He pulled her against him, one hand at the swell of her back, the other tangling in her hair.

"Eh-hem." Ruby cleared her throat awkwardly, both separated from eachother putting as much space between them as possible. "Sorry, we need to go, you need to get some sleep before the flight in the morning. I'll be in the car." She broke into a brisk walk and then she was gone.

"I'm sorry, love, I didn't…"

"I have to go." She began to walk away when he grabbed her again.

"Please Emma, don't run away. I know you. I know you're scared and so am I but please just give us a chance." He looked at her with pleading eyes, irresistible to any woman. She moved towards him and placed another gentle kiss on his lips.

"I'm not going anywhere, I promise Killian. When I get back we'll have dinner, okay?"

"Well, who could resist an offer like that from superstar Emma Swan?" He regained his arrogant smirk and she couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips. He pulled her in for one last kiss before she turned and walked out, leaving him alone in the bar.


	3. Chapter 3

She woke when her alarm went off, thankful that her sleep was uninterrupted. She leaned over the bed and hit the snooze button. She slumped back onto her mattress arching her back and interlocking her fingers above her head stretching her arms. She grabbed her phone from the bedside table, the red light was flashing telling her she had a missed call. The screen brightened revealing a notification window:

_28 missed calls_

_13 messages_

_34 e-mails_

She jolted up from the bed, what the hell had gone on? Scrolling through her call log, 7 calls from Ruby, 13 from David and 8 from different unknown numbers. She opened her messages and they were all from Ruby and David telling her to call them. She called Ruby first.

"Em, I'm just outside, come let me in."

"Okay, but…" Ruby hung up. She jumped out of bed, threw on her joggers and went to the front door, where sure enough Ruby was stood looking panicked.

"Ruby, what the hell is going on?" She said nothing but turned her IPad to face Emma. She had about 15 different tabs up, all celebrity gossip sights. She opened the first tab. Her mouth dropped at the headline.

_Superstar Emma Swan caught making out with fellow artist, Killian Jones, at disastrous launch party. _

She couldn't believe what she was reading, how the hell did anyone find out? She scrolled down the page, reading every word of the article. Everything that happened was in the article, her performance, Neal showing up, David knocking Neal out and her kiss with Killian. At the very bottom of the page, a picture of her and Killian filled the screen.

_How did they get a picture, no press were in there? Ruby threw them all out… wait, no way. He wouldn't. _

She looked at the picture again, it was from above, so they must have been on the balcony of the bar meaning they were out of the way of Ruby and David.

"Son of a bitch!" Emma walked into the lounge and slumped down on the sofa. She called David. He had no answers either.

"I'm sorry Em." Ruby muttered, she looked as angry as Emma.

"It's not your fault Ruby, you couldn't have known anyone was up there." She looked at every single gossip site she had up, every article was the same as the first

_Rebound… Secret love… Future Mrs Killian Jones… Neal's long gone… Bound to get her heart broken… Playboy… Ladies' man… _

"Oh god." She whispered, Ruby was off on the phone as she had been for the last hour or so whilst Emma read every word of the articles and stared at the photo.

"You okay?" She asked, covering the microphone with her hand.

"I'm gonna go call Killian."

She walked into her bedroom and shut the door behind her. She had no clue how this conversation was going to go but she had to speak to him.

She hesitated before pressing 'Dial'. She almost hung up after 3 rings but then his voice stopped her.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Killian it's Emma."

"Yeah, I do have caller ID, love." Her cheeks turned red, embarrassed by her stupidity. "Now, what can I do for you? Aren't you supposed to be about 30,000ft in the air right now?"

"Wait, are you telling me you haven't seen it?"

"Seen what, Swan?"

"Oh my god, okay, um…" She had no idea how to tell him.

"Hang on darling, there's someone at the door."

"No! Killian don't answer the door!"

"Emma, what is going on?"

"Oh god, okay look… please, please don't freak out."

"Emma, you're worrying me now."

"No, it's nothing that bad, somehow someone managed to get onto the balcony at the bar and nobody knew they were there and well, our kiss, it's all over the internet." She only just realised how fast she was talking and wasn't particularly surprised when he didn't respond.

"Um, okay, by all over the internet…" Ruby suddenly came charging into the room and grabbed her TV remote.

"Em, you need to see this." The TV turned on and there it was on GMA. She and Killian were plastered on the screen and everyone was talking about it.

"Crap. Killian, turn on GMA."

She heard him fumbling for the remote and then she was listening to Greg and Jenny in two places at once.

"So you meant all over the internet." He sounded half serious, but you could never really tell with him.

"Yeah, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's not like it's your fault. So what do you want to do?" She waved her arm at Ruby to leave the room as she spoke.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I guess I'll talk to David and Ruby and you'll need to talk to your people and we will go from there." She paused a lot during that sentence, unsure of what to say.

"Em look, I want you to know that no matter what this thing throws at us I still want to be with you. I don't care how much press attention we get or how many fans go wild or even how my crazy family react. I want to be with you." She blushed at his words.

"Okay Killian Jones, let's do this."


	4. Chapter 4

She sneezed as the brush tickled her nose. The make-up artist had been painting her face for nearly an hour and she was starting to feel the butterflies in her stomach. It had been 24 hours since their kiss was plastered over every gossip site on the planet and she was ready to put all rumours to rest, well nearly all of them. GMA had been more than happy to have them on as it meant they would be first to get the scoop.

"Okay, Miss Swan are we ready?" The producer came over to her almost gushing, he was clearly a fan.

"As I'll ever be." She stood from her chair and made her way to the stage where two burgundy chairs were laid out so that when facing the camera they would be at the perfect angle to see all of their faces and so could easily be caught out should any subtle smiles or the occasional wink appear. Killian was already sat on the left and she did a double take when she saw him. He was wearing tanned chinos and a white shirt rolled up at the sleeves with burgundy Vans. His hair had been combed back and the stubble on his face just made his features stand out even more. He stood when she stepped onto the stage and took her hand to help her up the steps.

"You'll break your neck in those, love." She glanced down to her heels.

"Trust me, these are practically flats compared to what I've been wearing lately." They sat down as more people came flooding around the stage running in all directions. The cameras were positioned and the crew were ready to go.

"Okay you two, so Gemma and Rick will come on the screen behind you but you'll see them on the monitor in front of the central camera. They'll introduce you and thank you for being here and then it pretty much goes from there. So quiet backstage please. In 3, 2, 1." Applause surrounded them as the two presenters appeared on the monitor.

"Good Morning America and welcome to the show. Today, we have two very special guests with us in Los Angeles. Please welcome, superstars Emma Swan and Killian Jones!" Applause surrounded them again and they both put on the biggest smiles they could.

"Killian, Emma thank-you so much for joining us."

"It's a pleasure to be here Gemma." She spoke with a lot less tremble in her voice than she had expected.

"So guys, we don't want to keep you any longer than we have to, I know you must be busy, especially you Emma with your album coming out soon." A round of applause and cheers sounded again and she giggled and felt the heat rise in her cheeks.

"So, I'll get right down to it, obviously everyone wants to know the same thing, but we want a big reveal and we thought we would build the tension up a bit more first. So first of all, what happened with Neal Cassidy?" Her heart sank at hearing his name. She hoped that hadn't gotten out or more that they would not ask her about it.

"I…I...He…" Suddenly, she felt a gentle hand over hers on the arm of her chair. She looked over to Killian and he looked back with a gentle smile and a look of sympathy in his eyes.

"Neal Cassidy arrived at Emma's launch party intending to win her back. However, her manager David Nolan and assistant Ruby Lucas escorted him from the building, although things did get quite heated prior to his exit…"

"By heated, you mean?" Rick interjected.

"He means Neal tried to kiss me, I pushed him away but he wouldn't back off. He landed on the glass table when I pushed him away which alerted David who was outside the room. He came in and punched Neal and knocked him out then dragged him outside the club." Killian's face was beyond shocked at what she said, clearly he hadn't known exactly what happened. He squeezed her hand to reassure her.

"I'm sorry Emma, I didn't realise..."

"It's okay Rick, honestly, it could have been a lot worse if David's punch hadn't knocked Neal out."

"So Emma, Killian can we now enquire as to what happened after that, specifically the kiss?" Gemma jumped straight to the point.

"Well, after everyone was believed to have left the building, I approached Emma to ensure she was alright. One thing led to another and we kissed. Afterwards, Emma left to get some rest before the flight she was supposed to catch this morning, but not before she agreed to have dinner with me when she came back. Emma saw the picture before me and so she called me and explained what had happened. We talked and decided to tell everyone the truth."

"Which is?" Gemma leaned forward in her chair, she looked like she was about to burst. Emma spoke before Killian this time.

"Which is, that Killian and I have had feelings for eachother for a while now and last night Killian told me how he felt. I was overwhelmed and I kissed him." She was now looking directly at Killian. "So, to give a straight answer, Killian and I are starting a relationship." Wolf-whistles and screaming surrounded the studio again. They hadn't taken their eyes off eachother since before Emma had spoken.

"Well, that is definitely the best answer we could have hoped for. Now I know I speak for everyone watching when I say we've seen the picture, can we see the real thing?" Screaming and wolf-whistling was still present and they both blushed when Gemma's words sunk in. They snapped their eyes away from each other to the camera. They both looked back at eachother and laughed.

"I think mi lady Swan and myself would prefer to share our second kiss when we feel the moment is right, sorry Gemma." Gemma blushed as Killian winked at her.

"Oh, you two ruin our fun." Both presenters laughed as did Killian and Emma.

"Well, we won't keep you two lovebirds any longer, I'm sure you want to head home and have that dinner you told us about, now just out of curiosity where will that be?" Rick raised his eyebrows and leaned forward.

"It will be somewhere romantic, very low key and far away from prying eyes." Emma's words made Killian giggle so she squeezed his hand perhaps a little too hard.

"Well, I had something very different in mind, love." He said before Emma had a chance to interrupt him. "In fact I have already made reservations somewhere in the city." She jolted her head in his direction.

"Alright, well every person in LA is going to be flooding to the streets tonight. So Killian, Emma, thank-you both so much for being with us today. Ladies and gentlemen, Emma Swan and Killian Jones!"

"Thank-you guys!" Emma spoke as she and Killian waved and blew kisses into the camera.

"And we're out. Great job everyone." The producer walked away and crew members moved the cameras away from the stage. Killian stood and took Emma's hand, leading her off the stage. She turned to face him.

"So, you basically just screwed our first date."

"Excuse me?" Killian looked completely shocked at her words.

"Relax, I'm kidding. Look, I don't care if wherever we go is flooded with press and fans, as long as I'm with you I don't care." She winked at him and released his hand, she gave him a light peck on the cheek and began to walk to her dressing room.

"Swan!" She spun on her heel. "Be ready by 7, I'll be outside."

She smiled and turned her back to him. She could already feel the butterflies in her stomach.


End file.
